The Legend of Spyro: Never Again
by Epic-Effing-Fail
Summary: After pulling the world back together, Cynder begins to have nightmares. But, the dark master has called upon a new servant, Eshira, to capture Cynder. The grand rebirth of my old story.
1. Chapter 1

Spyro opened his eyes a little bit, just enough to let a sliver of light slide through his eyelids. He inhaled and exhaled slowly, careful not to alert anybody or anything nearby. If anything was nearby and looking for a fight, he would easily be overpowered due to the amount of energy he lost during the fight with Malefor.

After a few minutes of lying still, he finally felt safe and took a deep breath. Instantly he realized that was a mistake, because moments later he began harshly coughing out ashes.

When he was sure he expelled all the ashes from his system, he calmly got up and examined his surroundings, trying to remember what had happened after the fight. All he could recall was him and Cynder flying…

Cynder! His expression immediately went from calm to scared as he took off to scan the area. He forced down his powerful wings to get in the air, hovering there for a bit and rotating around.

Spyro's aerial search for Cynder came up with nothing, but he did find out where the ash was coming from. There was a huge volcano about a mile south of where he was, launching molten rock and volcanic ash into the air. It was pure luck that none of the magma came their way.

He decided to start another search for Cynder, except this time with a different tactic. This time he flew slowly and low to the ground, churning up the ashes with his wings. It was hard to see with all of the churned up ash in the air, but Spyro was positive he searched every inch.

"_Spyro!"_Spyro instantly recognized that voice, echoing off the natural stone walls. It was Cynder. "_Spyro!"_She called out to him again. He whipped around to the direction of her voice, clearer than the other time she yelled.

He spotted a low cave in a tall rock a few hundred yards from where he was. He quickly took off and flew towards it, knowing that's where she was.

As if on cue, the volcano gave an earth shattering roar, blasting out a sudden burst of lava, which began pouring down its sides. "_Spyro, hurry!"_

She was right; at the speed he was flying there was no way he could make it in time. Spyro angled his wings a little bit to sacrifice agility for speed. He was too high to directly fly into the cave, but that was part of his plan to dive into it.

The lava was advancing faster than expected; it was more than halfway to the cave. While spotting the lava, he saw Cynder, moving a huge rock near the entrance. She stopped so there was just enough room for him to get through.

Cynder said something else, but her words were interrupted by another explosion from the volcano. All of a sudden, Spyro was forced down, caught in a killer wind current that was carrying him straight into the lava.

Spyro shot open his wings, the wind catching him like a parachute, stopping him a few feet from the lava. The downdraft subsided, but it brought him closer to the cave than he expected. He closed in his wings just in time, the tips scraping against the entrance.

He barely made it through the gap in the rock, but before he could even turn around Cynder was moving the boulder over the opening. Spyro rushed over to help, using up the last bit of strength he had left.

Finally, the boulder was in place. Spyro, completely depleted of energy, collapsed where he was. Cynder, in the opposite state as Spyro, went to the back of the cave and snapped off a piece of green crystal.

Spyro heard the crystal breaking, and in return he propped up his head just in time for Cynder to place the crystal in front of him. He slowly extended his paw, absorbing some of its energy from afar, but most of it when he touched it.

It barely restored any of his strength, but it restored enough to perk him up. He could have gotten up, but there was no need because Cynder lay next to him. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"A little bruised up, but I'll recover." Spyro extended his wing and wrapped it around Cynder, who in turn snuggled closer to him.

Spyro gazed into Cynder's sleepy emerald eyes. "How about you?"

Cynder waited a little before responding. "I'm really tired," she finally said.

"Well, we better get to sleep, then." Cynder nodded, resting her head on Spyro's shoulder, falling asleep within seconds. However, it took Spyro at least an hour to drift away into sleep.

* * *

**Yes, the grand rebirth of my old story. The reason I'm not just continuing it on my old account is because I lost the password.**


	2. Chapter 2

Spyro was the first to wake up, his sleep disturbed by a slight rumble from the volcano. He slowly opened his eyes and raised his head. The green crystal was the only source of light in the dank cave, but even that was losing its glow.

By the light of the crystal, he saw Cynder curled up in the corner, almost completely concealed in shadows. Spyro didn't want to wake her, so he went to the crystal and absorbed a small chunk, dimming it even further.

The crystal wouldn't last long, so Spyro hatched a plan and started ripping off dead vegetation from the wall, piling it in the middle of the cave. Once he had a decent pile, he shot a small stream of flame at it, turning it into a small campfire.

At the time Spyro ejected the fire from his mouth, Cynder awoke, her breathing coming in short and fast bursts. "Morning, Cynder," Spyro said.

Cynder jetted her head towards Spyro, a wide-eyed expression on her face. Spyro gave her a questioning look, and in return she backed against the wall. "Cynder, what's wrong?" Spyro had a hint of panic in his voice.

Cynder looked around the cave one more time before answering. "Spyro, it was a nightmare and," she hesitated. "Nothing…it was nothing." Her eyes began welling up with tears.

"C'mere," Spyro extended his wings. Cynder ran to him faster than expected, catching Spyro by surprise, but he quickly adjusted and held her tight. "Now tell me about that nightmare."

She broke away from Spyro. "No, it'll just scare you."

"Try me," he laid down in front of the fire, followed by Cynder.

"Well, you and I were walking in the desert, and you swiped at me with your tail. I assumed it was an accident, but then you shot at me with fire. Then I knew it wasn't an accident, and I tried to fight back, but you were too strong. And when I was too tired to fight anymore, you carried me into the sky, and I was falling, falling, until…" She stopped herself.

"Cynder," Spyro gazed deep into her eyes. "You know I'd never do anything to hurt you."

"I know, but…" She was interrupted by a wave of sobs, tears spilling over her cheeks and falling on Spyro's shoulder. "It was so real..."

--

Cynder recovered from her nightmare over the course of the day, and even though she was positive she was passed it, she refused to sleep that night. "Come on, Cynder, we'll need to be well-rested for the flight to Warfang tomorrow."

"No…they'll come back," she said. Spyro understood her phobia, but he was still worried about her.

No matter how hard Spyro tried, he only got about an hour of sleep that night.

The next day, both of them were extremely tired, but they pressed on to Warfang anyway. But before they left, they needed a plan.

Spyro drew a horizontal picture of the volcano in the dirt and sat in front of it with Cynder. "If we're going to get over of the ring of fire, we need to plan it. There's an updraft near the volcano, we need to ride it as high as possible." He drew a line with his tail moving up the side of the volcano in the dirt.

"We'll keep that altitude; if we need to we'll go higher." He drew another line going straight across going above another thicker line, and then got up. "Ready?"

"Yeah, let's go." Cynder got up and walked to the entrance, starting to push the rock away. Spyro went to help.

Once the rock was out of the way, they walked outside and examined where to go, the hardened magma still warm under their feet. They saw the volcano, took off and headed towards it.

The flight was short; they stayed low and skimmed the ground due to the density of the air. Before ascending the volcano, they took a short five minute break to catch their breath. "You think we'll make it?" Cynder asked.

"We have to," Spyro replied. They took off, riding the draft to the top.

The flight up was uneventful, both of them coasting most of the way, but they didn't go directly over the volcano for fear of it erupting right on them.

The volcano took them to about 750 meters, under the ring of fire's height of at least 900. The poisonous gasses from the volcano mixed with the thin oxygen made it difficult to breathe, but they continued to climb.

Cynder started to feel dizzy at about 800 feet, but Spyro distracted her from it with stories he came up with from the top of his head. That seemed to calm her down, because she smiled with each new story.

Spyro looked down to evaluate their height, when something caught his eye. It was a small hint of scarlet, completely in the open with no obstructions around. He squinted his eyes in attempt to get a better focus, shockingly realizing what it was. It was another dragon, blue in color. The red he saw was blood, almost covering their entire body.

"Cynder, there's another dragon down there!" He shouted over the wind, which was getting stronger as they went on.

"Are you sure?" She looked down, scanning the rocks.

"Look, in the clearing." It wasn't hard for Cynder to find the dragon, since there was only one clearing for miles. She gave a shocked expression when she saw him.

Cynder looked at Spyro. "We have to help," she said.

Spyro stared down for a little longer. "You're right," he finally said. He folded in his wings, leaving a little slack for stability. Cynder followed close behind.

They descended in a fast downward spiral, eventually slowing for a landing.

Cynder had a beautiful touchdown, gently settling down on the ground with perfect poise. Spyro, however, pulled out of his dive too late, skidding on his stomach in the ashes.

He was sure Cynder would have laughed, but she was already examining the dragon. Spyro instantly rushed over to help. He didn't really know what to do, but Cynder apparently did.

She took a little time to clean a huge rip on his chest, but eventually gave up. "He's dying fast, it's lucky we got here when we did." She said with sadness in her voice.

"Will he live?" Spyro asked.

"He might, we need to apply pressure, and he's still bleeding. That's a good sign." Spyro wondered how Cynder got so skilled with the medical stuff, but he mostly wondered how bleeding is possibly a good sign. However, he didn't question it.

Cynder began harvesting leaves from the ground that blew in from somewhere or other. She went over to the dragon, pressing the leaves on his wound. "Spyro, help me hold these," he obeyed, balancing on his hind legs and applying slight pressure with the front.

Cynder was already running to the rocks, tearing off the greenest vines she could find, running back when she had enough. "Keep holding the leaves, Spyro." She began tying the vines around his body, making a crude, green bandage.

"Now what?" Spyro asked.

"All we can do is wait," she responded. Spyro looked helplessly at the blue dragon, who was now distinguishably blue now that most of the blood was cleaned off. "Spyro," Cynder sighed.

"Yeah, Cynder?" Spyro averted his gaze from the blue dragon to Cynder.

"Don't worry, he'll be okay." Spyro laid down where he was, fatigued from the failed flight over the ring of fire. He patted the ground next to him with his paw, a gesture for Cynder to come next to him. "Someone needs to watch our blue friend here," she said, making a gesture to the dragon.

"I'll do it, you need to sleep," Spyro said and got up. Cynder wanted to argue, but saw no point in it and lied down.

"By the way, Spyro," Cynder said as she closed her eyes. "Nice landing."

Both of them smiled, Cynder falling asleep within seconds of her comment. However, Spyro's smile was short-lived, vanishing off his face when his eyes fell upon the blue dragon. He sighed deeply.

_Whoever you are,_Spyro thought, _please be okay._

_

* * *

**Yeah, the first 9 are going to come pretty quick.**_


	3. Chapter 3

Spyro stayed awake all night, or day, he couldn't tell because of the dark clouds of ash. He waited hours on end for either Cynder or the blue dragon to wake, but with every hour came nothing. Occasionally, he slightly amused himself by matching his breathing with Cynder's, but it got tired out really fast.

He almost fell asleep several times himself, but pushed himself past it with willpower and motivation. But finally, just as he was about to surely fall asleep, the blue dragon stirred. Spyro knew the dragon was awake now, but he stayed quiet to make him feel secure.

Apparently it worked, because after a few minutes he opened his eyes and looked around. When his eyes rested on Spyro, he instantly panicked and got up in a defensive position. "Explain yourself, now, before I blast you to hell," he said. Spyro didn't expect him to be that violent.

"I'm Spyro," he said, "Cynder and I saw you were hurt when we were trying to fly over the ring of fire, and we couldn't leave you to die."

"Who's Cynder? Why did you help me? Why are you inside the ring?" He asked, arming an attack.

"Well, in order, that's Cynder," he made a gesture towards Cynder, who was still deep in sleep. "Why we helped, well, that was just how we were raised. And why we're inside the ring, I'd rather not say."

"Say or die," he said, his aggression increasing with every sentence.

"Well…" Spyro told him the story, starting from when they went through the ring, over the course of which the blue dragon calmed down.

The blue dragon waited a little after Spyro finished, taking some time to soak in what was just told to him. "You killed him?" he finally asked with awe.

"Actually, we imprisoned him, but he's not going anywhere." The dragon stared at him, amazed. "What's your name, anyway?" Spyro asked.

He paused for a moment. "For now, call me Nine."

"Why, don't you have a name?"

"It's a long story," Nine sighed.

"I've got time," Spyro said, glancing at Cynder.

"Well," he sighed, "fine, I can trust you." He took a deep breath. "Malefor had, let's say ideas. One of his ideas was for a non-purple dragon to have all four elemental breaths. He captured me and two of my friends, um, Five and Seven, so he could test on us. Five was a red dragon, Seven was green." Spyro wondered if Five and Seven had other names too, but he waited and listened. "The numbers he gave us soon became our names, as everyone in the castle started addressing us by our numbers. We tried to use our real names amongst each other, but we were separated too often, and eventually we forgot what our names were.

"The first few months were easy; all he did was test our physical condition so we would…survive the real tests. The next couple months weren't too bad; we were just injected with different mixtures so we would be affected. Then the last months, those were a living hell. The only theory he had for our bodies to harbor the element was to blast us with it. They put us in sealed rooms and somehow filled it with an element. Five died the first day of testing, within seconds of being hit by the elements.

"Seven, remarkably, gained all other three elements, but she escaped the next day. Everyone in the castle said that she only escaped because she had all four elements. In return, I was guarded more heavily. I was constantly in chains, and I didn't go anywhere without an escort. But finally, after three years, it ended.

"A rumor was spreading around the castle like a virus, about two dragons named Spyro and Cynder. They feared that you would free me, so they killed me off, or at least that's what they thought. They slashed my chest, and dumped me here. So here I am."

Spyro looked again at Cynder, who was laying the same way, only awake. After traveling with her for so long, he knew when she was awake. He wondered how long she had been listening. "Cynder, you don't need to fake it anymore." At first she didn't do anything. "Cynder, I know you're awake." Finally, she sighed and got up.

"How long have you been awake?" Nine asked nervously.

"Long enough," Cynder replied, shooting him a look she gave Spyro all the time. "So how _did_that testing go?"

"Well, I'd rather not say." It looked like he was going to faint, but he stood his ground.

"Say or die," Cynder said, quoting him exactly.

"Come on, Cynder," Spyro said, trying to break in.

"No, no, it's ok. The truth is, well, the testing backfired, and now my element's gone." There was a slight pause. "Go ahead, laugh," he said. Cynder tried to be polite by holding it in, but eventually couldn't take it anymore and fell to the ground, laughing for about five straight minutes.

While Cynder was laughing, Spyro took the time to closely examine Nine. He was about the same age as Spyro, with dark blue wings, the same color as his crest and underbelly. The spade at the end of his tail had a diamond shape, which was black. His horns closely resembled Spyro's horns; only in a shade of blue so light it almost looked green. But the thing about him that stood out most, were his eyes, the color always glazing over a new shade of red, the only part of his body that wasn't blue.

Finally, Cynder calmed down and got up, her eyes tearing up from laughing so hard. "No element?" Cynder laughed. "You've gotta be kidding."

"Try me," he said.

"Ok," Cynder said, "hit me, hard as you can."

"I wouldn't feel comfortable attacking you," he said, trying to back out of it.

"I dare you." She shot a bit of shadow around his feet.

"Fine," he walked up to her slowly, slashing at her with his tail.

"Is that it?" she asked, blocking his attack easily with her wing.

"No, but again I'm not comfortable attacking you." Cynder attacked him with wind this time, knocking him back.

"Ok, fine, you've inspired me." He walked up slowly again, slashing with his tail, again. Cynder blocked, but instead, this time, Nine slid across the ground, swiping his tail with him, tripping Cynder. When she was still trying to recover from her fall, Nine flipped her over and put a paw on her neck. "So, how'd I do?" He flipped over the paw on her neck, an attempt to help her up.

Cynder denied the help, blushing a little as she got up. "I—I wasn't ready," she said, making a quick excuse.

"Are you ready now?" Nine asked.

"Um…yeah, I am." Nine repeated the maneuver; the only variation was a missed shadow attack.

"I think I've proven myself," Nine said, offering to help her up again. Cynder blushed even more, brushing imaginary dirt off herself.

"Uh, I was distracted," Cynder said, making another excuse.

"Cynder, I think you lost."

"Fine," she seethed, glaring at Nine.

"Hey," Nine said defensively, "you challenged me." Cynder only got angrier, but didn't say anything.

--

"Nine, do you think you'll be okay to fly to Warfang tomorrow?" Spyro asked.

"I don't know, I haven't flown in three years."

"Go practice, now," Cynder commanded. Nine sighed and took off with horrible form. Cynder made sure he was out of earshot before talking to Spyro.

"Cynder, you don't have to—" He was cut off by Cynder putting a paw over his mouth.

"Spyro, I had another nightmare," she whispered. "Only this one was worse than last night." It looked like she was about to cry, but she held strong.

"What was this one about?" Spyro asked.

"You and I were walking in a dark hallway, and we came to a room, and you attacked me. You put me in chains and shackled me to the wall and…and—" Her eyes began welling up with tears. "And you tore my wings off." She said it fast, wanting it to end as soon as possible.

Spyro shuttered at the thought of ripping off Cynder's wings, swearing to himself that he would never think of it again. Unfortunately, it was easier said than done. It was all he thought about until Nine landed.

Cynder backed up as he touched down. "I still need practice, but I can fly to War—hey, what's wrong with her?" Spyro looked back at Cynder, who was lying down, staring at the ground, a tear dropping into the ashes.

"Nothing, she's fine," Spyro said, turning Nine away from her.

"Here, try taking off like this." He took off, Nine mimicking it perfectly, hovering next to Spyro. "When we ride the volcano's updraft, you need to angle your wings like this." He tilted his wings, the way that increased agility. Nine lost some altitude when he did it, but quickly recovered. "Then when we clear the volcano, like this." Spyro angled his wings for lift. "Then dive and land." He dove fast to the ground, landing much better than the first time he landed there. Nine did it too, but not as gracefully.

They practiced landing and taking off for a while, but eventually moved on to the flying styles. Nine did well on all of them. "So how did I do?" Nine asked.

"You're as ready as you can get," Spyro responded. "Now get some sleep, the flight is a lot longer than it looks." Both of them swooped down and made a perfect landing, no side movement at all. Nine was asleep within seconds of landing.

Spyro walked up to Cynder, who was still lying on the ground. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"No," Cynder answered truthfully. "I'm scared about these nightmares, what if I have them for the rest of my life?"

"Come on," Spyro said. "Don't talk like that, they'll go away eventually."

"What about tonight?" she asked.

Spyro draped his wing over Cynder. "I'm not going anywhere." Cynder stared into Spyro's eyes, hers still teary.

Spyro closed his eyes and rested his head on the ground, disturbing images swimming around in his head.

"I know," said Cynder, putting her head near Spyro's. "That's what worries me." She closed her eyes, falling asleep almost instantly.

The last thing Spyro remembered before falling asleep was biting down hard on Cynder's wing and pulling hard, feeling her flesh give way.

* * *

**Nothing to say here, move along.**


	4. Chapter 4

When Nine woke up, the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was Spyro and Cynder cuddled up near the side of the clearing, still asleep. He didn't want to wake them, so he decided to practice flying even more.

After a few minutes of flying, he began to get a little hungry, also thirsty. However, this raised a problem; there was no food or water. And in the charred wasteland they were in, he was pretty sure they wouldn't find any inside the ring. He landed and sat down to save energy.

Finally, after twenty long minutes, Cynder awoke with a jolt, churning up some of the ashes around her into the air. "Hello, Cynder." He would have said 'good morning,' or any variation of the phrase, but he didn't know if it was morning or not.

"Uh, hi Nine," she said, glancing over at the volcano, erupting as if on cue. Lava began heavily flowing from the top. "We need to move, fast."

She jostled Spyro, nudging his shoulder to wake him up. He woke up slowly, still wanting to sleep. "What, what?" He said, annoyed.

"Get up, we're leaving for Warfang," Cynder said, pushing him to his feet.

"Now? It's too early."

"No, it's not, get up." She shot a bit of wind in his face to get him woken up, which seemed to work.

"Ok, fine, I'm up. Let's go to the volcano." He took off and flew to the volcano, not caring to hide his aggravation. Cynder and Nine struggled to keep up.

Spyro had to wait at a rock shelf for Cynder and Nine to arrive, and by the time they got there, he had completed thirty paces on the shelf.

Spyro calmed down during the updraft ride, using smoother, more controlled movements.

When they cleared the volcano, they immediately began ascending. Cynder, once again, became dizzy halfway through the ascent. Spyro repeated some of the stories he told her the last time they tried to get over the ring. But, Nine usually jumped in the story when Spyro broke to take a breath or think of a new line, and eventually it became a sort of contest. After Nine and Spyro both became dizzy, the story telling to calm down Cynder soon calmed down all three of them.

As they continued to get higher to pass over the ring, the harder it became to climb. They couldn't glide as often, so they had to beat their wings harder and faster to keep airborne. "Is anyone else hungry?" Nine asked, his stomach almost drowning out the sound of the wind.

"Thanks for bringing it up," Cynder said, her previous hunger coming back at the mention of it.

"No, not really." Spyro was probably the strongest of the group, so he could go on a bit longer without food.

Trying his best to ignore his hunger, he glanced at the ring. They were about a hundred yards away, and still about fifty feet too low. _Higher, higher, higher!_Nine thought furiously, beating his wings like never before, his strength quickly diminishing.

He took note of Spyro and Cynder's height, both of them at least twenty feet above him.

They were almost there, Nine could feel the strong heat radiating from the ring and onto his body. _Higher! Higher!_He screamed it in his mind, attempting to motivate himself. It seemed to have worked.

Seconds before the ring engulfed his entire body, his broad wings caught the warm, rising air and carried him past the ring. The flames barely licked his underbelly.

The ring wasn't very wide near the top; they passed over it in a few seconds. After they were sure they had completely passed over it, they dove for the ground, not bothering to glide.

A small amount of land that bordered the ring was just like the inside, but it quickly faded into a lush green oasis. The trio cleared the border easily.

The second they touched down, they collapsed into the grass, almost dying of fatigue. However, Nine regenerated his fatigue remarkably fast.

He stood up within minutes of landing, feeling the grass under his paws, brushing his wings on the greenery all around him. "Finally," he whispered to himself. "I'm free."

Spyro was the next to stir, surprised at how fast Nine recovered. "So," he said, "how is it outside the ring?"

Nine could have gone on for hours about how amazing it all was, but he summed up most of it with one sentence. "It's what I've been dreaming about for three years."

Spyro couldn't help feeling sorry for him; he couldn't imagine how hard it must be to be voided of the outside world and flying for three years.

Cynder then got up, still a bit devoid of energy. "That," she said, "was too high. Why couldn't we go through it like the first time?"

Spyro's face turned expressionless, remembering how Ignitus sacrificed himself to get them through the ring, also how he turned dark.

Nine tried escaping the conversation by looking up to the sky, catching a glimpse of what it looked like without black clouds of gas looming above. "Hey look, fruits!" He spotted brightly colored fruits in the canopy of a tree.

Spyro was much too tired to go up and gather fruits, so Nine went up and snapped them from their branches. Spyro caught them with his wings before they smashed on the ground.

Once they had a small pile of fruits, Nine returned to land.

They all lay down around the pile. "Ladies first," Nine said politely, nudging the top fruit towards Cynder. It rolled down the side of the pile, landing at her paws.

"Thank you," she said. Cynder would have said more, but she was starving. She took a bite out of the fruit, not bothering to pick it up.

She chewed for a

* * *

bit then swallowed, her eyes growing wide. "It's amazing," she said, rolling herself another fruit. Spyro and Nine did the same.

The small pile of fruits they had gathered vanished in seconds, each of them getting the same amount. All that was left of the fruits was odd purple seeds.

Spyro gazed southward, the direction of Warfang. However, he couldn't see far due to a sheet of fog rolling across the landscape. Nine and Cynder were staring at him, waiting for him to make one of his leaderly decisions. "I guess we'll leave tomorrow," he finally said. "Now, we need sleep."

Nine looked up to the sky again before falling asleep under a bush. Spyro wondered how he could fall asleep so fast, but his thoughts were interrupted by Cynder. "Spyro, it happened again," she whispered.

"Tell me," Spyro responded.

"This was the worst of them all. I was walking down a hallway, which seemed to go on forever. The walls were smeared with blood, and dead dragons were everywhere. Then, I came to the end of the hallway, and you were there. I was going to ask what had happened, but I saw you ripping out the throat of another dragon. After you finished killing him, you turned to me. I ran away as fast as I could, but you caught up and grabbed my tail. You smiled at me, your teeth almost completely red, and…" Spyro didn't need to hear the rest; he could fill in the blanks.

Spyro was about to lie down next to Cynder when she stopped him. "Maybe we should sleep…farther away from each other," she said. It broke Spyro's heart, but he knew it was for the best. He sighed and took a few steps off to the side, Cynder moving in the exact opposite direction.

Spyro lay down in front of the tree that produced the fruits, the moon beaming down on him. Cynder was near Nine, who was sleeping like a rock. For some reason she felt safe around him.

Spyro gave Cynder one last smile before closing his eyes and falling asleep. Long after Spyro fell asleep, Cynder lay awake in the darkness, eyeing Spyro from the shadows. Eventually, her sleepiness got the better of her and she drifted in and out of sleep.

About halfway through the night, when all of the dragons were asleep, a jet black raven landed at the tip of a tree, casting a shadow directly over Spyro's body.

* * *

**Chapter Five in about thirty seconds.**


	5. Chapter 5

When Spyro awoke, something was very wrong. Instead of feeling the grass he fell asleep on, there was a cold, flat surface. He opened his eyes and stood up, looking about frantically.

At times like this it didn't take Spyro a while to wake up, but normally he woke up very slowly.

He recognized where he was, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He was on a floating platform that was hovering in the middle of a black void. The only thing set out of place was a single green crystal, directly in the center of the platform.

With nothing else to do, he went up to the crystal and put a paw on it. But instead of his body sapping the crystal's energy, it broke apart and hovered around his head. He knew this from before; it was just like in the Catacombs.

He jumped a bit when a voice came before him. "You've come far from the center of the earth, young dragon," the voice said.

Spyro instantly recognized the voice. He looked up from the crystal, to see Ignitus on the far side of the platform. "Ignitus!" he cried in excitement, performing a jump over the crystal. He stopped halfway in between.

Ignitus looked different than before, he almost looked like…"Ignitus, are you―?" He stopped himself.

"Yes, I am the new chronicler," Ignitus said. Spyro wanted to ask a wave of questions, but he was caught up in Ignitus' new look. Instead of his firey red color, he was now a mixture of steel blue and white. He had on a huge necklace with all sorts of things on it, but what mostly caught his eye was a trinket that resembled a small lantern directly in the front. Of all of his changes, the one thing that looked the same was his eyes, which seemed to peer directly into his soul. (And being the chronicler, he probably could.)

"Spyro, I understand you have hundreds of questions, but those are for another time. Now, I need you to give something to Nine." A small necklace materialized in front of Spyro's head, but it soon fell and landed on his nose. Spyro went cross-eyed for a moment to look at it.

"What is it?" Spyro asked.

"Just deliver it to Nine, he'll know what it is."

"Ignitus, I need you to answer one question," Spyro said slowly.

"What would that be, young one?" he said.

Spyro sighed. "Is…is Cynder okay?"

"Ah, I had a feeling you would ask that," Ignitus chuckled. Spyro didn't realize how that was funny. "Unfortunately, I cannot answer that. All I can say is that you, Cynder, and Nine all have to work together to overcome them." He started to disappear.

"Ignitus, wait!" Spyro shouted out, but it didn't stop him. Ignitus soon vanished.

"Someone new will also join your travels, but I cannot reveal who just yet." He disappeared with the last two words he said.

_Spyro!_He heard another voice coming from the abyss. _Spyro, wake up!_He knew it was Cynder, but the problem was that he didn't know how to escape. He soon found the answer.

The world around him began to fade, melting into the blackness surrounding the platform. Soon he was completely ensnared in darkness. Seconds later, he began to feel a rush, the real world coming back to him.

Spyro awoke with a sudden jolt, his mind rushing to recollect his thoughts. He got up almost instantly, shooting open his eyes.

Before he had time to think, Cynder was hugging his neck with her forelegs. "Oh Spyro, we thought were dead!" she said, squeezing him tighter. Cynder's sudden move surprised him, and all he could think to do was wrap his wings around her.

"Cynder…you're…too tight," Spyro said, Cynder choking him. She loosened her grip, but didn't let go. Spyro took a deep breath as soon as possible. "Why did you think I was dead?" he asked.

"You were asleep for three days," Nine jumped in. As Nine said those words, Spyro remembered the necklace, which was now on the spade of his tail.

"Spyro," Cynder said. "What happened?"

Spyro thought of what to say for a moment, and then began. "Ignitus is the new chronicler. He wanted me to give Nine this." Spyro tossed the necklace over to Nine with his tail, and then continued. "I wanted to ask millions of questions, but I only got one out." He broke Cynder's embrace and looked into her eyes. "I asked if you were okay…you know, with the nightmares." Spyro could see a mixture of hope and love in her eyes.

"And?" she asked.

"All he said was that we had to work together to overcome them," he sighed. "He also said that someone else will 'join us in our travels,' he didn't say who."

"Spyro," Nine jumped in a second time. "Do you know what this is?"

"No, Ignitus said you would know."

"Remember Seven, who I told you got all four elements and escaped?"

"Yes," Spyro said, curious.

"She gave this to me before we were captured by…" he stopped himself.

"Say it, I don't care," Cynder seethed.

"Ok, she gave this to me before we were captured by her men, but the scientists took it from me, and I saw them drop it into the volcano." He dropped it over his head with his tail, looking down at it. "It looks exactly the same."

A few minutes passed of total silence, the only sound that filled the air was the wind whipping around the branches of the trees. "So, should we leave for Warfang?" Spyro asked.

"Sure," Cynder responded. "Nine?"

Nine was still examining his necklace, but looked up when he was called. "Huh? Oh yeah, sure."

They all took off at almost the exact same time, flying in a V shape with Spyro at point. There was a much stronger headwind than any of them expected. "If we fly at this speed, we'll probably be at Warfang in two days," Spyro announced.

He noticed that the fog from, well, three days ago was still barely below the canopy, which could make it hard to find a spot to land. When he looked up from the fog, he could see a few of the taller building spires of Warfang on the horizon.

--

After they had been flying for over fourteen hours against the unwavering headwind, each of their wings was burning, screaming at them for a rest.

Spyro kept scanning the trees to find a clearing or something that could allow them to land. It wasn't until they hit the fifteen hour mark. He found a small circle of trees, which was the only clearing he found for miles. "There's a clearing down there, circle around and land," Spyro shouted over the wind.

They veered to the right a bit and passed it, then soon glided to the left.

When Spyro came close enough to the ground, he could see that the clearing was dotted with beautiful flowers over small fields of sparkling vines.

Something caught his eye in the center, like a ripple in water, but it wasn't water, that was clear. The parts that weren't covered in vines were grassy. Then something set off a red light in Spyro's head. A piece of wood was gently gliding over the clearing off to the side, slightly disturbing the grass around it.

"Don't land!" Spyro yelled out. "Don't land!" He wasn't sure if they understood why, but they obeyed. Spyro's feet cleared the grass, which wasn't grass at all, merely an illusion in water, by inches. Nine's tail barely pierced the surface, sending a small ripple spreading outwards. Both of them pulled out into a tight circle.

Cynder, however, wasn't so lucky. Almost half of her body got submerged in the water, and she would have gotten out if it wasn't so thick with vegetation. She quickly got entangled within the vines, instantly thrashing in the water in attempt to free herself. "Cynder, stop struggling, you're making it worse!" Nine shouted down to her.

"What am I supposed to do, drown?" Nine didn't respond, instead he looked at Spyro, who thought up a quick plan.

"Cut the vines," he said to Nine. He nodded and swooped down. Spyro made another circle before following him.

Nine flew in low right above Cynder, slashing the vines along her back with a stroke of his tail. Spyro then came in to pull her out, but soon realized he couldn't. The reason was that new vines were already cocooning her body, as if they had minds of their own.

"New plan, cut the vines under her," Spyro said to Nine. Nine didn't much understand how, but nodded. This time Spyro flew in first, bringing his arms around Cynder's body, and pulled up for all he was worth.

Nine then understood, gliding very close to Cynder, cutting the vines that were pulled out of the water. It took several flybys, but it worked.

Spyro quickly flew into the trees, his wings forced to fold in because of how close together the trees were. It didn't take long for his fatigue to catch up to him.

His wings burned as if on fire, soon giving way with the extra weight. Spyro and Cynder rolled on the ground, being stopped by a series of rocks and finally a tree.

Cynder was knocked out by the collision, the back of her head coming down hard on the rough surface of the tree.

Spyro thought back to the time he had first carried Cynder, flying out of the portal with her unconscious body. That was the last thought he had before slipping away into blackness.

* * *

**Crap, I didn't hit the 30 second mark.**


	6. Chapter 6

"Cynder, get up," Spyro said, shaking Cynder's shoulder slightly. She was still crumpled up in front of the tree, not moving an inch after she got knocked out. "Wake up." Spyro had given her twelve hours to sleep.

"Ugh, what, are we leaving for Warfang?" she said sleepily.

"Yeah, get up." She did, slowly, wincing in pain as she lifted herself.

"What happened yesterday?" Cynder asked.

"You almost got eaten by a plant and you lost a fight with a tree," Nine said, already hovering above. "So are we leaving or what?" Spyro and Cynder both responded by taking off, heading south.

--

The flight to Warfang was uneventful, except for the continuation of their story telling game.

Finally, the gate came into view, welcoming the trio to Warfang as they approached. They landed before they went through the gate, walking through as is customary when entering.

Warfang was in chaos, moles and dragons both running and flying around in attempt to repair the ruins of the once glorious city. "Spyro!" a dragon called from above.

He looked up and smiled, seeing Volteer diving down to the courtyard. He landed hard on the stone with a crash. "This is glorious; the majority of us surmised that you were dead! Oh, and you've acquired a new companion!" Spyro didn't know what half of his words meant, but he could fill in the blanks.

"I'm Nine," he said. Volteer looked a tad confused.

"Your name is a number? Do you not have an alternate appellation?"

"Uh, no, it's just Nine. I had a separate name, but I forgot it."

"Do tell," Volteer said.

Nine went about telling the long story of how he became captured and taken for testing, when he was almost killed and abandoned, and everything in between.

"A most fascinating tale," Volteer said after he finished. "Perhaps we may locate your file in the dragon archives. But for now, there is a meeting at the statehouse with the other realm leaders, and they shall be starting shortly, I shall meet you all there." He took off and headed for the tallest building in the city, the top half of which broken off.

The air traffic was heavy, but as they flew to the tower, the dragons all around them swerved away to avoid collision. They reached the tower in no time.

When they landed near the tower, they were greeted by four carvings, one for each element, on the door. There was a mole standing guard, but when he recognized Spyro and Cynder he threw a lever. Soon after, the door opened. "So, nervous?" Spyro asked Cynder.

"A little, you?"

"Sort of."

Inside the base of the tower, there was another wooden door which was charred black. They passed through it and entered the central room.

In the center of the room, there was a huge, round, stone table that took up the majority of the center. A map of the land decorated the center. But the most important part of the room was the other dragons of all shapes, sizes, and colors surrounding the table. Spyro, Cynder, and Nine stood by Volteer.

"Everyone, I would like to acquaint you with these dragons," Volteer announced. "You all know of Spyro." The other leaders perked up with interest.

"This would be Nine, just Nine." The others looked confused, just like everyone else who heard his name.

"And who would this beautiful young dragoness be?" a red dragon next to Spyro said. Cynder blushed a tad at the comment.

"Well," he said. "This is Cynder." The others averted their attention to Cynder and gasped. They all knew of her infamy, which was known in all of the realms. Knowing this, Cynder put her head down in shame.

* * *

**By far this is the chapter I think is the worst.**


	7. Chapter 7

"They hate me," Cynder said. They had left the meeting about an hour ago, and they were now resting in a small house given to them by Volteer.

"No, they don't, they just need to give you a second chance," Spyro said.

Cynder sighed and looked down. "I doubt they will." She began to walk away, but Spyro stopped her with his wing.

"They will, I know they will." He turned her head gently, so that they were staring into each others eyes. "I did, and if I didn't, none of us would be here today."

She gave him a slight smile, knowing he was right. Spyro returned the smile instantly.

Cynder was still a bit scared of Spyro, but now, she ignored it. She hugged him tight, Spyro quickly returning it. "Spyro," she said.

"Yes, Cynder?"

"I'm scared," she said quietly.

"Hey, c'mon," he responded, gently patting her back. "They'll pass."

"What if they don't?" Cynder paused a moment. "What if I'll be stuck thinking you're a monster for the rest of my life?"

"You know that I'm not a monster."

"You're right," she sighed. "But something is saying that you are."

"That doesn't matter," Spyro said, breaking the hug. "All that matters is that you know."

Cynder sighed, turning towards her bedroom, when Nine came bursting through the door. "You'll _never_guess who I just ran into." He turned away, making a gesture to someone.

It was a little while before a beautiful green dragoness emerged from the door. "Hello," she said shyly, not stepping into the house.

"This is Kiari," Nine said, gently nudging her in. "You may know her as Seven."

Spyro and Cynder both gasped, their eyes growing wide. "Does she…"Spyro began.

Kiari sighed. "Yes," she said. "All four."

* * *

**This is the shortest, and second worst.**


	8. Chapter 8

Kiari jumped onto Nine's bed, shaking him violently. "Get up," she whispered, careful not to wake Spyro or Cynder.

"Agh, what is it?" Nine said sleepily, rubbing the sleepiness out of his eyes.

"Nine, I…" she paused, taking a breath. "I know your real name."

Nine almost instantly jumped out of the bed, surprise and relief mixing together to give him a sharp jolt. "You do? Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I had to wait until the right time." She looked out the window and sighed. She thought back to all the countless hours of torture at the fortress, the pure anguish she felt when her body sapped up the elements. "It's Renkin." She looked back into his eyes. "Your name is Renkin."

--

Miles away, almost on the other side of the planet, a dragon, black as midnight, flew into a barely visible cave. Se gracefully landed at the mouth, walking in slowly to be greeted by the glow of black candles.

Upon seeing the inner part of the cave, she stopped. The inner cave was protected by a narrow opening, the sharp, pointy rock formations giving it the impression of entering a creature's mouth. She pressed her wings tight against her body, passing slowly.

Her face showed a grimace as the 'teeth' dug deep into his flesh and tore at her wings. A small trail of blood marked her trail, slightly shining in the faint glow.

Finally, she reached his destination. At the heart of the mountain, a chamber had been created by a small pocket of lava long ago. When the lava had drained, it left a dark crystal seeded deep into the ground.

The dragon stared at the crystal, mesmerized by it as she often was by its evil magic. She flashed a quick smile, knowing what was about to come.

A dark blue color overcame the normal purple glow, slightly changing the color of the cavern. "I've been waiting for you, Eshira," a voice echoed in the cavern.

"You're just lucky I wasn't busy," she responded, a bit bored. She soon heard a growl.

"How _dare_you speak that way to me! If―"

"If nothing, Malefor, you can't do anything to me when you're stuck in that crystal," she cut him off swiftly.

"Oh yes, in fact, I can." A small bunch of skeletons emerged from the ground around Eshira, holding up their weapons. She would have fought them, but she was in too small a space. "Now that I've proven my power, we have to get down to business."

The skeletons sunk back down into the ground. "What did you have in mind?" she said.

Malefor let out a laugh. "I have a near infinite number of skeletons at my disposal, but I cannot control them for a very long time." He raised a single skeleton. "I chose you to come here for your superior mind. You must sustain an army of these skeletons."

"How the hell am I supposed to do that?" she asked, annoyed.

"Simple, hit this skeleton with a fear, and then shadow attack."

"I only have shadow," she said.

Malefor sighed. "Absorb this crystal." She did as she was told, putting her paw gently on the crystal, releasing its energy into her body. A sharp jolt of pain shot through her body, causing her to collapse for a moment. "Get up," Malefor demanded, accompanied Eshira rising to her feet.

"All right, all right, geez." She paused before using the fear, making slight adjustments for her new power. The red rings emerged from her mouth, hitting the skeleton square in the chest, causing it to glow red. She quickly switched to shadow, showering it in baleful black flame.

"That's all, now you just need to give it an order."

"Okay, this is all very helpful, but what am I supposed to do with this army?" she asked, bored even more.

"Simple," he laughed. "All you must do is capture the black dragoness, named Cynder."

Eshira perked up with interest. "And then what?" she asked hopefully.

Malefor laughed once more. "Patience, Eshira. Just one thing at a time. Now, if you go to the crater west of this mountain, there will be a little surprise waiting for you."

She gave a low bow, knowing he was watching, walking backwards out of the cave, following her trail of blood. "Follow," she said to the skeleton forcefully. It obeyed immediately.

_Hah, this is going to be fun._She thought to herself.

* * *

**It only took 8 chapters to introduce the evil side.**


	9. Chapter 9

It was almost 6 A.M. at the dragon city when the sun rose over the walls, nearly rebuilt. Slight rays of light slipped through the curtains of the small building that housed a sleeping Spyro. Cynder, who was across the hall, was trying to regain sleep after yet another nightmare when she came in.

"Spyro," she whispered into the room. No response. "Are you awake?"

Spyro stirred. "I wasn't." He rolled over to see Cynder walking towards him. "What's up?" he asked.

Cynder stared at him with the same sad, confused eyes she used on him for the past few days. "Again?" Spyro said, reading her mind. She nodded slowly. "Come on, Cyn, it was just a dream."

Her frightened stare turned into a confused look when Spyro said 'Cyn.' "What'd you call me?" she asked.

"Oh, sorry," he said. "I just…had a dream about that. I won't say it again." Spyro said apologetically.

"No, no, it's fine." She paused a moment. "I kind of like it." Her face was only in a confused pose for just a moment, then the second she remembered her dream she changed her expression.

"Tell me about it, Cyn," Spyro said.

Cynder shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it."

He shrugged. "Fair enough. But if you didn't want to talk about it, why'd you come see me?"

She sighed deeply. "I needed to make sure you were still…you."

--

Eshira was forced to walk to the west, not being able to fly with the skeleton, which she knew she needed. She looked back at the mountain, hard to see in the dead of night. "Just shut up and keep walking," Malefor said, using the skeleton as a transmitter.

"I never said anything," she said.

"True, but you were thinking it." Eshira didn't respond.

"What am I looking for, exactly?" she asked.

"Just look for the glow." Sure enough, she spotted a rock in a large pile that stood out from all the others. The deep purple glow was easily recognizable as a dark crystal in the night.

She moved the rock aside, revealing the 'surprise,' which was nothing more than a dark crystal necklace. "This is it?" she said, picking it up with her tail. "You've got to be kidding me."

"It's more important than you may think. With this, you can talk to me wherever and whenever you want."

"Can't I talk through the skeletons?" she asked.

"Actually, that was a one-time thing. I used a bit of the crystal in the mountain when I raised this skeleton. You need this crystal to talk to me now." The skeleton by her side disappeared into the ground, appearing as is if it jumped below the earth.

"Now, that being said, time to attack Warfang," Malefor said.

"So soon? Don't I get a break?"

Malefor sighed. "All right, I'll give you a thirty second break, then back to business." A skeleton emerged from the ground, followed by another, two more, then four more, the number of skeletons doubling each time.

"By the time your break is over, there will be an army at least seven times the Warfang population, of all races."

Eshira's good mood instantly disappeared. "Do I have to―"

"Yes, fear and shadow, on every single one of them."

* * *

**Allright, here's chapter nine. I'll update every week, maybe more.**


	10. Chapter 10

Eshira flew high over the great city of Warfang, observing what damage her army had done in only the first hour. Needless to say, she was very pleased.

The skeletons had already broken down the gate and were piling in the city, two going to each house to search for Cynder.

The dragons had already given up. Ones that were foolish enough to hide in their homes were brutally killed, and afterwords their houses were burned to the ground.

As she was flying to the opposite side of the city, she noticed what horrible defense the city had. Everything was greatly exposed, it was as if the designer only had cared about the walls in means of defense. She estimated that she would rule the city within hours.

Finally, she reached the other side of the city, where she could see dragons rushing out. Another mistake.

She mustered up all her power, releasing a pent up shockwave of fear straight up into the air. Instantly recognizing the signal, another enormous mass of skeletons charged out of the trees and attacked the escaping dragons. In a chaotic shift, the dragons attempted to dash back into the city. Eshira planned this.

The skeletons rushed the gate in perfect formation, blocking their exit. She smiled as the skeletons slaughtered nearly 300 dragons within minutes and instantly moved on to assault the second half of the city.

Eshira headed towards the citadel, landing gracefully on the ruined peak so she could oversee the entire battle. The army had already doubled their advance, the doughnut of fire slowly reaching inward towards the citadel.

She shot one last ring of fear into the air before relaxing to watch the remainder of the battle.

--One hour later--

The city was buzzing with activity, despite it being the dead of night. Thousands were running to the north gate, away from the major fighting. They were all penned up inside the northern courtyard, blocked in by the inward swinging doors and the mass trying to get out of the city. Amongst the chaos of dragons trying to get out, only four were trying to stay in.

"We need to hurry or else we'll be spotted," Spyro said, looking to the smoke in the sky.

"I'm fine with that, I'd rather fight them," Renkin said. Cynder gave him a sharp look, but he remained unnerved.

At last they reached the citadel. Spyro held the door open for the group, rushing in close after them.

"Look for the statue of the Chronicler, it--"

"Found it," Renkin said, poking his head out from around s corner. "Wheres the button or lever to open this 'secret passage?'"

Spyro rounded the corner to see the others waiting patiently for him. He wondered how they got there so quickly, but remained silent.

The very second he laid eyes on the statue, he stopped. As the sill figure sat so mightily before him, the images of Ignitus flashed in front if his eyes. All the memories came rushing back from the time they first met in the forest, all the way to when they most recently met.

"Spyro," he could faintly hear Ignitus' voice in his head, but it seemed more of a distant echo. "Spyro!" A much louder voice called to him, and with a quick shove reality came rushing back into his mind.  
He shook his head in attempts to clear his thoughts. "Sorry," he said. "Tap on his tail spade three times, and then touch his necklace."

Kiari obeyed, clicking a claw against the enormous spade, then flying up to touch the necklace.  
The second she did, the grinding of ancient stone wheels could be heard inside the walls. The statue slowly turned about and sank into the ground almost exactly like the one at the temple.

When it completely sank into the ground, more gears were heard as the wall behind it opened to reveal a dark passageway. "I'll go first," Renkin said, sprinting down into the staircase. His figure became concealed in shadow within seconds.

Nonchalantly, the other three followed. Their eyes rendered useless as the door slammed shut behind them.

* * *

**Sooo sorry about taking so long, what with high school, homework and stuff, I've barely had any time to write. This chapter was written completely on my iPod touch, using the Documents 2 app. It's cool, cause I can write in the middle of the night and upload it to Google documents. :D Anyways, enjoy.**


	11. Chapter 11

Eshira stirred in her perfect state of relaxation, disturbed by a voice booming into her head. "What are you doing, you idiot? Look over the battle!" Malefor yelled. Eshira rolled her eyes., noticing a small number of gathering storm clouds as she did.  
"There is no way that Cynder will be able to escape."  
Malefor sighed heavily, making the crystal glow slightly. "Look at the base of the tower," he said. Eshira craned her neck over the jagged stone, not having to move much else of her body. She had to squint her eyes to see that far down, but she was slightly taken aback when her eyes adjusted. "The ruins of Warfang run underneath this entire city. The enterance is underneath this building."  
Eshira flung herself into the air, hovering a few meters from the spire. "Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" she asked, ckearly annoyed.  
"The enterance should have been sealed when everything was pulled back together." Eshira looked down on the group, who had just slipped through the doors. With a roar, she released three rings of fear in the air, giving a command to every skeleton to attack on her position.

Cynder jumped a bit as the door slammed behind her, recieving looks from the other three. "What, I'm not allowed to get startled?" she seethed. Spyro looked away, focusing on where they were walking in the dim light. Kiari was indifferent.  
"The infamous 'Terror of the Skies,' jumping around when a door shuts," Renkin laughed.  
Cynder opened her mouth to snap back, but Spyro put a wing in front of her. "Stop," he said sharply, causing the group to come to a sudden halt.  
Spyro let out a huff of air as a sign he switched elements and raised his head. A small energy ball appeared in his mouth, illuminating the seemingly endless drop mere inches from their feet.  
"Follow me," he said through the electricity, his voice echoing off the walls. Looking to the left and right, he made sure he had enough room to fully extend his wings in the small cavern before taking off.  
Seeing that he did, he crrouched low, spread his wings, and lept to the air. The silent woosh of three other pairs of wings were heard from behind him as they flew into the darkness, Spyro's yellow hum of electricity lighting their way. "Ride the air current," Spyro called back to the group. "Let me and Cynder lead the way, we've been here before."  
"Well, aren't we the superior one," Renkin murmured under the wind. Spyro let a low growl escape his throat, but disregarded the comment.  
After about thirty seconds of coasting on the current, Spyro scouted a place to land with a good view of the door. "Land ahead," he said. The four escaped the current with great effort, landing on the platform that was partially shektered by a ruined wall. At least it was enough to keep out of sight.  
"Cynder," Spyro said. "We need to move the statue, keep the door from re-opening. You two, keep an eye on the enterance and signal us if you see anything."  
"What should the signal be?" Kiari asked as Spyro dove back into the current.  
"You're two smart dragons," Cynder said, following Spyro. "Figure something out."  
Cynder quickly caught up to Spyro, careful not to go too fast as to speed ahead of him. "How are we going to get back?" Cynder asked.  
"The old fashioned way. Hopefully there will be a green crystal over there." Cynder nodded uncomfortably, wondering if this time would be any better than their last encounter in the ruins.  
Approaching the platform, they broke themselvesfree of the current and continued to fly towards the statue. They were careful to keep their distance, for they saw small traces of white smoke which showed the presence of ghouls.  
It took only a few seconds to find the statue, and as a bonus they didn't see any trace of a ghoul. "It can't be this easy," Cynder said, landing by the statue.  
Spyro touched down right next to her. "No, there's always a catch." They proceeded to cautiously move the statue out of place when a flash caught their eye. Both of them shot their heads towards the source o the light, seeing that it came from the platform they were just came from, a powerful but short lived flame emerging from Kiari's mouth.  
"Hurry!" Spyro shouted, straining his body against the statue. Moments later they heard the pedistal the figure was resting upon rise up, but it was too late. Spyro could see a pair of strong, black wigs tiredly pushing against the wind.  
"Who is that?" Cynder asked, straining her eyes to see the new figure.  
"I don't know," he said, seeing the figure hover by Kiari and Renkin. But whoever it is, they seem to be hiding here just like us. Come on."  
It took the two all of ten minutes to fly back without the help of the current, and without any green crystal to restore energy, it was even harder. They nearly collapses on the platform when they landed, but their curiosity towards the stranger pushed them forward.  
"Oh, thank God I'm not the only one who came down here," the stranger said, landing gracefully. The other four lept away from the newcomer as she landed, the compelling purple glow of her necklace pushing them back in fear. You guessed it, the dragon was none other than Eshira.  
"Woah, relax," she said, holding up her necklace with a paw. "It's not real dark crystal, it's fake. If it wasn't, I would be unconscious now."  
Malefor soon chimed in, his voice being projected right into Eshira's mind. "If you're wondering, it's because the crystal is full of energy."  
"My name is Eshira," she said. "And the legendary Spyro and Cynder!" Her gaze finally rested upon Kiari and Renkin. "Who are you two?"  
"This is Renkin," Kiari said. "I'm Kiari."  
"Ah, very well. Now that the formalities are done with," she took a deep breath.  
"Get down!" Spyro shouted just in time. Eshira released a deadly wave of shadow blasting towards the four, but it had only skimmed their wings, thanks to Spyro.  
"Give me the one named Cynder, I will be on my way," she said through gritted terth.  
The words sprung up a new rage inside of Spyro, driving him to instincively lunge at Eshira's throat.  
Being trained to act with lightning fast reflexes, Eshira easily sidestepped Spyro's foolish attack. Eshira took advantage of Spyro's temporary weakness, lashing out at him and leaving three deep slashes across his back.  
Wincing in pain, his wings folded like paper as he fell hard on the ground. This time Kiari joined in the fight, hitting Eshira with a blast of flame when she turned to hit Spyro.  
Eshira got hit with the full force of the fire, whirling around and temporarily ignoring Spyro. She stepped back to cushion the blow, but her right side had taken a fairly good hit. Cynder now added to the pressure, shooting needles of poison to her chest, each landing their mark. Kiari added even more flame to the mix.  
"I feel so left out," Renkin complained, sitting out of the fight.  
"Get used to it," Cynder said between needle shots.  
The constant barrage of attacks had greatly weakened Eshira, but she had a backup plan. Painfully, she held up her necklace and tapped it in a seemingly random pattern. The necklace glowed brightly, brighter than it ever had before, forcing everyone near it to close their eyes.  
Slowly the light died, a small sphere of dark energy flying from it and moving towards the body of Kiari. destroying all of her reserve energy and causing her to collapse on the floor. "Hah, you forgot about me!" Renkin yelled, lunging at Eshira in one ferocious attack.  
"Renkin, stop!" Cynder yelled to him, but it was too late. Eshira merely smiled and held her necklace up to his body, the dark crystal immediately sapping most of his energy within seconds. All Eshira had to do to stop Renkin was to place a paw in front of his path.  
"Stop!" Cynder yelled above the chaos. Eshira looked over to her, slightly confused. "I'll go with you, just please let my friends go." Eshira was slightly dissappointed, but at the same time she was relieved.  
"Heh, allright. Hold still, this won't hurt a bit," she said. Cynder closed her eyes and prepared herself for what was about to come.  
Eshira pressed the dark crystal upon Cynder's forehead, almost immediately leeching every last bit of her energy. It's for Spyro, she thought weakly as she fell to the floor. It's for Spyro...

_

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_**Alrighty then, here is so far my favorite chapter so far, my real favorite is yet to come. You can all thank OnyxtheDragon17 for the semi-quick update, so...start thanking. I've said enough for one chapter, the next one will be coming whenever. Enjoy.**


	12. Chapter 12

An aching body wreaked havoc on Cynder's mind as she slowly woke up. She tried to get up, but only managed propping up her head as she was also welcomed by a splitting headache. Forcing herself to stop, she gently rested her head her front legs. But as she moved, she noticed something on her scales, dripping down and going back to a large puddle that surrounded her body. Slightly gasping in horror, she realized it was blood.  
A quick rush of adrenaline flooded her veins, forcing her to stand up despite the horrible pain. Once she did, she noticed the source of the blood.  
The second she stood up a sharp pain exploded in her stomach. Dizzily, she fell back against the wall, pressing a paw on the pain in attempts to subdue it. Sickly red liquid rapidly flowed from her body over her paw. She didn't know how long she sat there trying to stop the bleeding, but after what felt like hours it finally did.  
Getting up slowly, careful not to let the bleeding continue, she began to feel dizzy again. _Damn that Eshira,_ she thought. _Why does she want me? Why not Kiari or Renkin? Why the hell are they even with us anyway, they should have their own lives to deal with._ A thousand questions raced through Cynder's mind, stopping abruptly as a crack of light appeared on the opposite side of the room.  
The wall appeared to open up on invisible hinges, and once it did Eshira slowly walked into the cold stone room. "Good, you're awake," she said as if everything was completely normal. She pushed the door closed with her tail, leaving the only available light as a series of dim candles mounted on the walls.  
"Before we start, let's get one thing straight," Eshira said, approaching Cynder with her crystal held high. "I don't need you here; I already have everything I need. You're only here because I don't want to kill you...yet." The crystal forced Cynder to crawl away to the corner, plastering a pain-struck look on her face as she half curled into a scared little ball. "Keep in mind that I can always drain your energy with my crystal again and let you bleed to death." She motioned to the deep cut along her stomach.  
Cynder looked up at Eshira, seeing a hint of a smile appear on her face. She lowered the crystal, tapping it once and raising a skeleton. "Hold still," she said, placing a paw on Cynder's back and another on her collar. Not wanting to comply, Cynder tried to squirm free of her grip. A quick kick in the ribs stopped this.  
In one swift movement, Eshira tore the collar off, releasing a few whisps of shadow as it broke. The second it did, the skeleton brought to Eshira a new collar. It was crudely made and dull gray in color, with dark crystal shards messily embedded into it. A small hinge bound the two halves together at one end, a half closed lock at the other.  
Eshira spread the two halves wide, placing it on Cynder's neck and clicking the lock closed. "If you're wondering, and I know you are, there is no key," she said. "Now that you're all dressed for the occasion, let us begin."

--

"Cynder, no!" Spyro yelled as he saw her collapse to the floor. He looked at her limp body helplessly as it was picked up by Eshira. She took off with Cynder held loosely in her claw, looking as if she would slip out any second. "Don't you dare take her!" he hopelessly yelled.  
"Spyro, she's gone," Kiari came up behind him, putting a comforting paw on his shoulder. "Even if we knew where she was going with her, we couldn't catch up in time."  
"No!" he snapped back, shaking her off. "I'm going after Eshira, I don't care if there's an army waiting to stop me!" He opened his wings in preparation to take off, but only lowered them again as it sent a jabbing pain through the wounds on his back.  
"Let it go, she'll be dead by the time we get to her," Renkin said. Spyro fell to the ground, streams of tears pouring from his eyes.  
"You don't understand, Renkin," he seethed. "She's the only one I have left in this world. Without her I have...nothing to live for."  
Renkin seemed slightly taken aback by Spyro's words, but quickly recovered. "You're right, I don't," he laughs. "But she does." He made a gesture to Kiari, who in turn sighed deeply.  
She shifted uncomfortably, for Nine had brought back some horrible memories. "I loved Five. He died during the testing," she said abruptly, fighting back tears.  
"And she got over her lost love. You will too, so let her go."  
Spyro clenched his fists, every muscle in his body seeming to tense up as he did so. "NO!" he screamed, the word echoing off the walls. He lashed out at Renkin with his tail, which was easily dodged. "I'm not going to let her be killed! Say what you want, I'm going after her!" he shouted, whipping out his wings. The sudden motion caused the slashes on his back to scream at him with pain, but he ignored it. Leaping into the air, he shakily sped off.  
"Never bring up Five again," Kiari said sternly, flying off after Spyro.  
"What?" he said, taking off and following the two. "It was worth a shot."

--

Cynder let out a scream of pain as her wings were slowly pulled away from her body. The skeleton that was controlling the chains turned the wheel farther than her body would allow until it clicked into a locked position.

Eshira, who was watching calmly from the other side of the solid stone room, held a menacing smile on her face. "What now?" she whispered into her crystal necklace, which glowed brightly in response.

"It's almost time…" the crystal responded. "Do what you wish, but she must remain alive." Eshira's smile deepened. She knew exactly what to do with her.

She summoned the skeleton at the wheel, and after a short chat, it departed. Slowly, she approached Cynder.

As Cynder heard Eshira approaching, fear exploded in her body. She had no clue what was going to happen to her next, what to expect.

Eshira walked towards her slowly, knowing that the anticipation was eating at Cynder from the inside out. Unfortunately, she was right.

She raised a paw, slamming it down on Cynder's head and forcing her nose into the wall. "Your name is Cynder, correct?" Eshira said. Cynder responded by crying softly. "I asked you a question." She ground her head into the wall, causing her to give a harsh, painful moan.

"Yes…" she whimpered, trying to bypass all her agony.

Eshira let go of Cynder's head, leaving behind a few bloody claw marks. "So, Cynder," she said, walking off to the side and into Cynder's view. "Do you have the ability of fire?" she asked.

"No…" Cynder responded, scared of what might happen if she didn't answer.

"Very well," she said. Cynder heard a small metallic s_chink _of metal on metal, followed by a slight twinge on her wings. She could almost look over at what it was, but she was in too much pain.

It was only when the twinge turned into a searing pain and started to spread across her wing when she started panicking. She forced herself to look to a side, mostly using her eyes only. After an agonizing minute, she saw what was on her wings.

Her wings were on fire. She could clearly see the orange flames licking the delicate skin, turning it quickly to ash. Another scream of pain left her mouth as the fire got larger and engulfed every last bit of her wings.

It took a long while for the flames to die out, each second another moment of increasing agony for Cynder. Eshira, of course, only sat back and watched her torture.

The crystal again started to glow. "Good, keep it up for one hour." Eshira released the chains, causing Cynder to fall to the floor in a heap.

Even though she was still in immense pain from her wings still smoking a bit, it wasn't enough for Eshira.

"Please, please no more..." Cynder choked out.

"As much as I would like to end it for you, my master wants you alive. The only thing keeping me from letting your suffer end is him." Eshira then blasted Cynder with five enormous rings of fear. The rings had the desired effect, for Cynder suddenly shrieked in terror and hurried to the corner of the room.

While Cynder was huddled in fear, Eshira was waiting for the real effect to kick in, and then it happened. Cynder's eyes suddenly shot open, revealing her soft green eyes grow wide and stricken with pain. The band's crystals then started to glow, Eshira smiling when it reached its brightest.

The second it got to its brightest, Cynder let out an ear-splitting scream so painful it made even Eshira hunch down a little bit. Once it subsided, it left Cynder panting like a dog. "That's a little taste as of what's to come. Every time you disobey, or if I just feel like it, that is what will come to you." Eshira cleared her throat before continuing. "After the master is done with you, well, let's just say he has better plans."

She snuffed out the torches, making sure to whip Cynder across the back with her tail when she passed by. "This place will be your tomb, Cynder," she said almost casually.

Eshira shot Cynder with a few more fear rings as she walked out of the cell, slamming and locking the door shut. She walked away, leaving Cynder to writhe in pain in a small pool of her own blood.

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**Okay, this here chapter isn't my favorite in terms of technique, style, and overall good literate flow. But, I LOVE the story part. Anybody crying yet? Kidding. Or am I? I'm not sure myself. It's 1AM as I write this here in the awesome city of Chicago, and I'm a little drowzy. Plus, I just got Team Fortress 2 and was playing that for the better part of the day. Anyway, I'm getting off topic. Tell me what you think, honestly. C'ya all laterz.**

**P.S. I'm seeing the spacing is a little off, in the document editor here. Sorry for that.  
**


	13. Chapter 13

The door once more opened in Cynder's cold hard cell, letting light seep in through the crack. Cynder looked over from examining her wings, still charred and burning. Fear once again took over her body. "No, please, not again," she said under her breath.  
But, instead of Eshira appearing in the doorway, Spyro came. He bounded in at full speed, darting his head around the room. "Cynder!" he called to her happily as he saw her, running towards her with a bright smile on his face.  
"Spyro!" she exclaimed, all of her fear washing away and being replaced with joy. He lifted her up, hugging her frail body. "You came back for me."  
"Of course I did, Cyn," he said to her soothingly, tightening the embrace. "I love you."  
Cynder's heart skipped a beat when Spyro uttered the three magic words. She regrettably pulls herself away from the hug, looking deep into his eyes. "Really?" she asked, somewhat dumbfounded. "Do you mean it?"  
Spyro chuckled slightly, a hint of a smile appearing on his face. "No," he says. Cynder's mouth drops open as he said that. "What in the world makes you think I would love you?"  
Tears begin to fall from her eyes, mixing with the blood below her. She walks away from him slowly. "Spyro..." she slowly says  
"Don't even talk," he sneers, walking closer to her. "I HATE you." He pushes Cynder up against the wall, tears now pouring out of her eyes. She averts her gaze from his, closing her eyes."In fact," he says, putting a paw on her shoulder to hold her up to the wall. "I think I'll just kill you now."  
Cynder's eyes shoot open, fear and confusion once again flaring inside her. "What?" she gasps out between tears.  
"Shut up," Spyro commands, holding her shoulder strongly as he extends a claw. He puts it up to her chest, bringing forth a small drip of blood.  
"No! Don't!" she hopelessly begs. She was about to say more, but she was cut off by Spyro sinking his claw deep into her body. Cynder suddenly gasps for air as he slowly retracts his claw. He looks at it with a sense of pride, the once white color now dripping red.  
"This is for ruining my childhood," he says cruelly, stabbing her chest again. He stops for a moment, looking into her eyes. The once soft, green glow her eyes formerly had were now bloodshot, cloudy, and stricken with pain and tears. "And this is for the rest of my life." He slowly drives his claw directly into her heart, not taking his eyes off of hers.  
He feels the last few miserable beats of her heart, struggling desperately to keep pumping blood. Cynder's vision almost immediately blurs, the world around her begins spinning and making her dizzy. "I hope that you burn in hell where you belong," he says quickly.  
Cynder painfully sucks in one final breath, looking at her former lover with cloudy eyes. "Spy...ro..." she weakly calls.  
The last thing she sees is the fuzzy image of a purple dragon, walking away from her with a smile.

--

Cynder jolted awake, her heartbeat racing and panting like a dog. She couldn't help but feel around her underside for any new wounds, but there were expectedly none.  
She put her head down on the floor once more, ignoring the blood. By this time she had gotten used to it, either that or just simply she didn't care she didn't know.  
Closing her eyes once more, she tried to get another few hours of sleep before she was tortured again. But, sleep never came.  
The spot on her back where Eshira whipped her was sending a stabbing pain all throughout her torso, and the new collar around her neck was griding down her scales slowly but surely.  
A single tear crawled out of her eye and down her cheek as she shifted her position to be as comfortable as possible in the stone room. As sleep slowly grasped her body, she wryly wished that Spyro wouldn't come to save her, and that she would never wake up.

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**Just a quick little chapter, I wanted to submit one of Cynder's nightmares. It's kind of short, but the nightmare was all I really wanted in this chapter. So as you can see Cynder's nightmares are pulling her away from Spyro. Oh noez.**


	14. Chapter 14

Cynder lie awake in the dark, the after effect of Eshira's fear eating her alive. She could barely keep her eyes open, but everytime she tried to sleep it would not come. She wanted to get up and stretch her wings out, but every time she moved a painful burning sensation shot through her entire body. Her mouth was dry to the bone, but she hadn't been given water, or food, in days. But most of all, above everything else, she wanted to be in the warm embrace of Spyro again.  
She risked moving her head to a more comfortable position, but regretted it instantly. Along with the burning sensation there was also the collar, which by now had ground down her scales and was rubbing along the soft skin underneath. There were even times where it activated at random, and the pain it brought steadily got worse each time. She just wanted it all to end, even if that meant death.  
Then, the door opened. Cynder prayed that it wasn't Eshira, but prayers have never worked for her in this place before. She walked in slowly, looming over Cynder like a shadow. "Stand up," she ordered, but Cynder couldn't. "Stand up!"  
"I...ca-n't..." she groaned, but that only got a whip on her back from Eshira's tail.  
"There's plenty more where that came from. Now get up," she said forcefully, raising her tail up high again. Cynder finally got the will to stand up, every movement of her muscles like a knife stabbing into her. She was just about up when Eshira's tail cut into her back again. "Faster."  
Cynder sucked in a painful breath as she was whipped, but did nothing to go faster. Eventually she was up, but she couldn't even hope to walk. She felt her own warm blood trickle down in between her scales from her back, then dripping down to the floor with little plips in the already inch deep pool.  
Eshira tapped her necklace again and two skeletons rose, pushing Cynder to the shackles hanging on the wall. She idn't have to walk or even move much, the blood on the floor let her slide mostly. Soon, the shackles were again on her wings and clamped down tight. One of the skeletons was at the wheel and already turning it slowly, the heavy chaines rattling audibly as they were pulled around the large gear. For the moment Cynder was still standing regularly, the chains not pulled tight yet. But, she knew it was coming.  
It took an agonizing minute, but finally Cynder was held tight to the wall by the chains. She would have screaned again, but when she opened her mouth all that came out was a low moan. Estura laughed and approached her, extending a single claw. "I have a surprise for you, Cynder," she said, making a deep cut along each bone of her left wing. She rose her claw up to her mouth, licking the blood off with a twisted smile. Eshira then did the same to her other wing, a cut along each bone. "But first, a little present."  
The skeleton at the wheel took that as a cue to turn the wheel, farther than it had ever gone before. Cynder moans in pain again, and Eshira only laughed. It didn't take long for the skeleton to stop turning, not because it was told to but because it was too weak to go further. Eshira expected as much and approached the wheel, putting a paw on it so it wouldn't spin back around and pushed the skeleton aside. She turned it just a few more inches so the prong her paw was on was horizontal, another twisted smile appearing on her face.  
She pushed the wheel down another few inches, then put her other paw quickly on the next prong. An audible pop was heard as both Cynder's wings became dislocated, and she released a muffled cry. Eshira chuckled warmly as he heard and saw her wings, but she was nowhere near done with her. She now put both feont paws on an upper prong, then put all her weight on it and wrenched it down. The wheel spun another time with the sheer force of it, and Eshira saw the bloodied shackles at the end of the chain spin around with it.  
As Eshira forced the wheel down, Cynder's entire body tensed up and she fellto the floor. She opened her mouth and screamed as a pain worse than that of the collar's exploded in her body. It was an unbelievable blinding pain, and she felt like she was going to be sick because of it. This pain only piled on top of the whips on her back, and another one came as Eshira brought her tail down on her hard. "Too loud," she said. Lucky for Cynder, though, the majority of the pain subsided quickly. But, the pain was still there and was now throbbing. She felt a river of fresh blood pour down from her wings, which she saw out of the corner of her eye. Glancing over to just check them, her eyes grew wide.  
Her wing was lying on the ground a few feet away from her, blood pouring out of the end. Eshira had torn off her wings.

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**I'm stopping it here on , but I'll keep updating on my dA page. It's just annoying to submit the chapter two times.**

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